It’s about SPACING!

It’s about SPACING!

I’ll bet you’re thinking, uh-oh here EB goes, a rant about the officials. Nope, not where I’m going with this one.

After 6 games in the Eastern Conference Finals we’ve seen some adjustments by Brad Stevens and Tyronn Lue. However, after a post season in which the press, the players, and everyone else has anointed Coach Stevens as a genius-I am perplexed by some failure to perform basic offensive basketball principles.

Look, I’m not saying I know even one one-hundredth of what the Celts’ boss knows. I do know this though. The Celtics spacing is absolutely pathetic right now. Their movement after the ball is entered the post is awful. Plain and simple. Go back and watch Game 6-if you can my Celtics’ fan brethren. Once the ball is entered into Al Horford, whom I’ve raked over the hottest coals in the history of social media, in the post, the Cavs double him before he can think to himself, “I think I’m soft, therefore I am”. Fact of the matter is, it’s not all his fault.

Here’s my opinion, and if I had a hot line to call Coach Stevens or anyone on his staff here’s what I’d say:

Coach Stevens, Eric Berry here…..just a quick question here: Why not enter the post from the ball side corner and have your players spaced subsequently in each corner and on the wing. Right now the ball goes into the post and you have a ball side wing, a weak side wing, another weak side wing spaced like 8 feet away(completely guardable by 2 players in an easy rotation) and a man in the opposite corner. Once the corner player enters the ball, or even if the wing enters it, the corner guy makes a Laker cut, and everyone else rotates to the open spot in the direction of the basketball. Wouldn’t the Cavs then find it difficult to double team from the weak side then? Simple ball movement would yield an easy shot. Spacing problem fixed. Put Jaylen Brown, who likes to shoot the corner 3, on the ball side post. Trust me, this will work.

I think it’s that simple folks.

Now, on to the defense.

Coach, you have to stop switching with Terry Rozier playing defense on LeBron James. It hasn’t worked, won’t work, and you will lose Game 7 if you continue to put us through this misery. No way he can guard him. Get through the screen, help on the screen from the direction the dribbler is heading, and rotate accordingly.

Voila! That’s it. That’s what I think works. My 2 cents.

Basketball can be very difficult or very simple. Right now the Celts are making things difficult on themselves by standing around and having poor spacing. Ask anyone who knows anything about basketball and they will have heard the following statement. Spacing is offense, offense IS spacing!

Make the change, Coach Stevens.